EP REVIEW: Electric La La Land – Fine Creatures
Since FINE CREATURES formed they have been crafting away at their sound and managed to mould plenty of different genres seamlessly into their overall style. The bones of the band are very much alternative rock with a real feeling of 1990s nostalgia, coupled in with the kind of pop sensibilities that wouldn’t have been out of place in the charts in the 1960s. With their first official EP release Electric La La Land the band look set to take on the rest of the country and put themselves out there as a future headline act.
The mini-album opens with the track Money which gets proceedings underway in a high tempo. The guitar tones are heavily distorted and hover perfectly over the top of the bouncer bass lines and punk inspired drum beats. The vocals themselves are stylistically closer to bands such as THE SMASHING PUMPKINS and SILVERSUN PICKUPS in the fact they are at the higher end of the register, soft in general but with rasp and grit being added for effect when required.
The next track on Electric La La Land is Settle Down. This song gives James Hall a chance to show off his singing ability with the quiet, reverb introduction and soft approach from the backing instrumental track. The dreamy, almost psychedelic verse section quickly gives way to the anthemic chorus that is undoubtedly the band’s main choice of weapon. If there is one thing that the boys in FINE CREATURES know well, it’s how to write a chorus with a hook that could catch anyone and draw them in.
As the record progresses on to the track Panthers the speed slows considerably from a run to a canter. This is by no means a bad thing and only goes to show that FINE CREATURES have the ability to shift dynamic with ease and put on their indie rock hat when the situation calls. The clean introduction gives way to a more distorted sound for the chorus with the pace picking up as Hall delivers another fine melodic chorus. The tune Get Up has a similar approach and leans very heavily on the tried and true verse-chorus-verse formula that served bands like NIRVANA so well. The verses are once again softly sung with Hall’s sickly-sweet vocals melodies drowning in reverb/echo effects. However, when it comes to the chorus the song kicks into gear and the song steps up the energy level tenfold with a chorus that could put plenty of pop acts to shame and there is no doubt that it is destined to be a sing-along favourite with the fans in a live setting.
Electric La La Land is a short, well written release that culminates in the final track Birthday Cake which is a perfect blend of all of the things that FINE CREATURES do so well. The guitar tones have been picked with painstaking attention and sound fantastic as a result. The drums once again have a very full sound and link up perfectly with the bouncy bass guitar riffs to create an excellent back drop for Hall to lay his impeccably presented vocal lines over, coupled in with incredibly well written lyrics. The fact that the this song leans towards the more indie rock influences for the band show that FINE CREATURES have many strings to their bow and prove that they have plenty of avenues to explore in greater detail.
Overall, it goes without saying that Electric La La Land is the perfect way for these young lads to introduce themselves to the wider public and gives them every opportunity it’s to build on this wonderful foundation in the future. It’s exciting to think what this group could accomplish when they are given a full length album to really explore the different musical directions that they have only dipped their toes in to so far. The next few years look very positive for FINE CREATURES and people should start paying attention to them as they begin to pick up speed and momentum leading into their next release.
Rating: 8/10
Electric La La Land is set for release on July 27th via Symptom Records.
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